POLLARP 1

Achitphol Poollarp

Mr.Abel Cadias

English 10/ 10:01

May 16, 2017

The Effects of Sad Music to Thai Teenagers

Sad music can affect Thai teenagers mind and thoughts in both positive and negative

ways. The purpose of this research report is to discuss the effects of sad music to Thai teenagers.

The importance of this research report is to provide knowledge for parents and teachers about

music which can affect their children's behavior. The pieces of information found in this research

report are based on eight sources. First, the article entitled Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and

Music Videos on Children and Youth by Media, C. O. shows that pop music and lyrics can

influence a teenager. The second research Pereira, C. S. and others. entitled Music and

Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters states that family and music are important to the

kids. Third, Music and Children from Music Psychology supports that music has a huge role to

Children. Fourth, The Effects of Music on Emotional Response by Morris, J. D. discusses

the effects of music to human response. Fifth, the article entitled The psychological functions

of music listening. by Schfer, T tells how the brain function when it receives the signal from

listening to music. The sixth research entitled Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on

Children and Youth. shows and supports the idea which music lyrics and video can influence

kids in good and bad ways. Seventh, the article entitled Impact of media use on children and

youth. discusses the effects of media to teenagers, and the eight research article The Effects of

Globalization on the Status of Music in Thai Society shows the variation of Thai music which is

added some western-music and discuss the effects of music to Thai society.
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Music Affects Thoughts

The article Impact of media use on children and youth in 2003, stated that media can

influence childrens mental and behavior. Television, videogames ,and music video are the major

things which can change childrens thoughts, especially in adolescent. Children tend to follow

the behavior which they like from these entertainment media because these are the things which

they usually watch when they want to relax. Music videos usually contain sexually explicit

material for the reason that they want to increase their popularity (AAP,1996). These media

usually inspired from the real situations which happened in teen age. Moreover, the article

entitled Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and Youth stated that lyrics

need to be concerned in todays environment; they guide the teenagers to have good health and

well-being of adolescents if theyre good(Strasburger,1995). In fact, music is important to

teenagers identity and helps them define important social and subcultural boundaries

(Christenson and Roberts, 1990). The research did an experiment and found that 2760 people of

14- to 16-year-olds in 10 different southeastern cities showed that that they listened to music an

average of 40 hours per week (Klein and others, 1993). Therefore, music plays an important role

in the socialization of children and adolescents (Roe, 1985). Furthermore, the article Impact of

Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on Children and Youth in 2017, found out that different

genre of music lead to different teenager behavior which may dramatically affects their thoughts

in the future.
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Sad Music

A study conducted by Dr.Brian Primack stated that teenagers who frequently listen to

music for a long time might got dramatic depression which leads to family problems when their

parents dont understand them. Moreover, the research reveals that present kids had an 80%

higher risk of depression. The problem is not the music itself, but it is from the genre that they

usually listen to. Sad music is one of the popular genre for teenagers because it directly describes

their feeling. The article entitled Why You Sometimes Need to Hear Sad Music stated that sad

music can increase persons acceptance about their problems. Many people cant deal with their

depression which makes their lives bad, and bad feeling is the reason why people start listening

to sad music. Although, sad music usually makes people sad. It doesnt always give bad effects.

In fact, people also report that re-experiencing emotions is a key means by which listening to sad

music can lead to acceptance (Heflick, 2016). This reason apparently supports the point of why

people listen to sad music, especially pop music. Thus, sad music helps people to cope with their

disappointment in their lives.

Moreover, many people said that sad music is aesthetically beauty in its meaning. Its

because the music itself has slow and emotional melodies. Sad music can make people

understand others feeling (Sandra, 2017). Friends are closer when they listen to sad music. It

makes them feel the relationship they have. Furthermore, the article entitled Here's Why

Listening to Sad Music Makes You Feel Better by David Nield stated that sad music can pull

out good memories in the brain to whom listening to it. Therefore, sad music can dramatically

change teenager thoughts and how they think about their future. It helps people cope with their

sorrowness. There are many benefits from sad music e.g. it makes people care others feeling and

motivate them to live their lives happier than before.

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Thai Society and Music

As mentioned, music and teenager relate to each other in many ways. A person can be

changed or motivated by sad music. Hence, music has an important role in the future society.

There are various types of music played in Thailand which represents Thai culture. In the past,

Thai people usually listen to their traditional music. The lyrics in the past were written as they

represent the lifestyle of people. They were written with good lyrics and beautiful harmonic

melodies. As mentioned, lyrics and tones of music are important to the feeling of listeners. They

can influence and change teenage mind and thoughts about themselves and others. If the society

changes, conditionally music ll be changed, and if music is changed, then the community will be

changed.

Furthermore, many Thai teenagers have to deal with mental problems because of their

parents expectation, competitive education, and personal problems. Music might help them cope

with these problem, or it might make it worst. Many teenagers find themselves having a hard

time when they gather all their problems together which might lead them to sadness and

depression. Music is the connection to teenagers heart. If music represents good things, teenagers

will definitely look the world theyre living in positive perspectives which will make them

healthy in both mental and attitude. According to a study by Nusbaum and Silvia(2010), over

90% of people who listen to a positive written music have better emotional health than people

who listen to emotional lyrics and melodies.

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Moreover, a review of 23 studies covering almost 1,500 patients found that listening to

music reduced heart rate, blood pressure and anxiety in heart disease patients (Bradt & Dileo,

2009), and the study by Zentner and Eerola(2010) stated that babies spontaneously dance to all

kinds of music which they are smiling when they dance. These are the positive effects of

listening to music. Therefore, music has a crucial role in Thai society in every way. People listen

to music because music is emotional, and it makes them worth living in the world theyre living.

Conclusion

The purpose of this research report is to explain how sad music affects Thai teenagers.

This research report concluded that sad music has a crucial role in the society, and it could

change teenage mental and emotion. Music can change how people look the world. It opens new

perspectives. Sad music can give good things, too. It doesnt always make people sad, but it

helps people to deal with their life problems. This research report recommends further studies on

how sad music affects teenagers.

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Reference:

American Academy of Pediatrics, Committee on Communications Impact of music lyrics and

music videos on children and youth (RE9144) Pediatrics. 1996;98:121921.
Christenson PG, Roberts DF. Adolescent on Popular Music in Early Adolescence. Washington,
DC: Carnegie Council Medicine; 1990
Heflick, N. (2016, March 28). Why You Sometimes Need to Hear Sad Music. Retrieved April
27, 2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-big-questions/201603/why-
you-sometimes-need-hear-sad-music
Impact of media use on children and youth. (2003). Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2792691/
Media, C. O. (2009, November 01). Impact of Music, Music Lyrics, and Music Videos on
Children and Youth. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/124/5/1488
Maryprasith, P. (1999). The Effects of Globalization on the Status of Music in Thai Society
[PDF]. London: University of London Institute of Education .
Morris, J. D., & Boone, M. A. (1998, January 01). The Effects of Music on Emotional Response,
Brand Attitude, and Purchase Intent in an Emotional Advertising Condition. Retrieved
March 27, 2017, from http://www.acrwebsite.org/volumes/8207/volumes/v25/NA-25
Music Psychology | Psychology of Music | Music in Education | Music and Children|. (n.d.).
Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
http://www.winmentalhealth.com/music_psychology.php
Music & Teenage Behaviour. (2012, May 27). Retrieved April 24, 2017, from
https://societyandmusic.wordpress.com/2012/05/19/music-teenage-behaviour/
Nield, D. (n.d.). Here's Why Listening to Sad Music Makes You Feel Better. Retrieved April 30,
2017, from http://www.sciencealert.com/new-research-reveals-the-pain-and-pleasure-of-
listening-to-sad-music
Impact of Music Lyrics and Music Videos on Children and Youth. (n.d.). Retrieved March 27,
2017, from http://www.ausfamily.org/resources/media-influence/115-impact-of-music-
lyrics-and-music-videos-on-children-and-youth.html
Pereira, C. S., Teixeira, J., Figueiredo, P., Xavier, J., Castro, S. L., & Brattico, E. (n.d.). Music
and Emotions in the Brain: Familiarity Matters. Retrieved March 27, 2017, from
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0027241
Sachs, M. E., Damasio, A., & Habibi, A. (2015). The pleasures of sad music: a systematic
review. Retrieved May 01, 2017, from
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4513245/
Sandra Garrido NHMRC-ARC Dementia Research Development Fellow, Western Sydney
University. (2017, April 30). Sad music and depression: does it help? Retrieved April 30,
2017, from http://theconversation.com/sad-music-and-depression-does-it-help-66123
Schfer, T., Sedlmeier, P., Stdtler, C., & Huron, D. (2013). The psychological functions of
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